Saved by a Woman
by YanksLuver
Summary: Robin and Patrick react to his HIV test results and make promises for the future.


**Title **: Saved by a Woman  
**Author **: Steph  
**Rating **: PG  
**Pairing **: Robin/Patrick  
**Category **: Romance/Drama  
**Disclaimer **: I do this out of a love for this couple. No infringement is intended.  
**Spoilers **: Spoiler for Monday's episode  
**Summary **: Robin and Patrick react to his HIV test results and make promises for the future.

**Note **: Here's my version of what I would like to see happen on Monday's episode. Just a short little thing. Hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you thought! -Steph

**--- Saved by a Woman: Part 1/1 ---**

Robin placed her hands over Patrick's, as her eyes scanned his face. She searched for any sign that could reveal what the results were.

He swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay, thank you."

Robin felt her breath catch in her chest, as Patrick closed the phone and met her eyes.

She saw the tears glistening in his eyes, but couldn't tell if they were ones of joy or sorrow.

"Patrick," Robin said softly, the word quivering as it passed through her lips.

He pursed his mouth and shook his head, his voice emerging in a choked whisper, "I'm negative."

Robin felt the air leave her lungs. She threw her arms around him and squeezed her eyes shut, as she breathed, "Oh, thank God." She then pulled back and cupped his face with her hands as their eyes met. "That's wonderful news."

Patrick smiled and nodded, as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. "I just can't believe after all this time it's finally over. I feel like I've been holding my breath for six months."

"Now you can finally relax. We both can."

Patrick tilted his head, his eyes scanning her face. "I never would have made it through these last six months without you, Robin. If this had happened before I met you, I'm not sure what would have become of me."

Robin smiled comfortingly, as she ran her hand up and down his forearm. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

"All I know is that I'm stronger with you than I am without."

"The same goes for me," she replied softly.

Patrick swallowed hard and brought his hand up to caress her cheek. "I wish things could have worked out this way for you."

A smile crossed Robin's lips and she shrugged her shoulders. "I can't complain about the hand life's dealt me, Patrick. I have a wonderful family, a great job, and an amazing man who loves me. What more could I ask for?"

Patrick grinned, then leaned forward, and pressed a kiss to her lips. He pulled back a moment later, shaking his head. "It's funny if you think about it. In some ways, I'm glad this HIV scare happened."

Robin's brow furrowed. "Really?"

He nodded. "It put everything in perspective. I stopped hiding behind my arrogant playboy routine and I let myself give into my feelings for you. I realize now I loved you long before I was ever exposed, but I think it would have taken much longer for me, us, to get here if this hadn't happened. I guess in a sort of weird way I'm grateful for it. Is that completely insane?"

Robin shook her head. "No, I understand what you mean. Sometimes you have to live through something terrible to really appreciate what you have, to force yourself to make a change or take a leap of faith. That's the only way I can get through horrible things like the hostage crisis or Alan's death. I try to see what I can learn from it, how I can grow in some way."

"Then it all doesn't seem so senseless."

Robin nodded. "Your scare, the hostage situation, Alan's death - it all makes you appreciate what you have. It makes you count your blessings." She paused and smiled. "And you are my greatest blessing."

Patrick's lips curled into a grin and he leaned forward to kiss her again. When they parted, Robin shook her head. "I can't stop thinking about what Monica must be going through. You know, she and Alan always reminded me of us. They were two doctors trying to make a relationship work and they were always bickering. But no matter what happened you knew they loved each other. Even when they were apart, you knew it and you believed that one day they would find their way back to each other. I just keep thinking that now Monica must regret the time they wasted being apart."

"I'm sure she does. That's natural."

Robin swallowed around the lump in her throat. "When I was lying in that lobby, I kept praying that I would get a chance to see you again. It killed me to think that I may have spent my last moments with you arguing. I wanted a chance to make it right. I would close my eyes and picture your face. And if I tried really hard I could almost feel your arms around me."

Patrick saw in Robin's eyes that the harrowing events she had just lived through would haunt her for a long time to come. All he could do was be there for her to make it a little bit easier.

"It's over now," he said, taking her hands in his. "We're together again and nothing's ever going to change that."

Robin met his eyes. "I want you to promise me something."

He smiled gently. "I'm pretty sure I couldn't refuse you the moon right about now."

Robin chuckled softly, before her expression grew serious. "I want you to promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles we face in the future, we'll never give up on each other. We'll never decide to walk away. I don't want to have to live with those kind of regrets."

Patrick nodded. "I promise."

"Thank you," Robin said with a smile.

He shook his head. "I'm the one who should be thanking you, Robin."

"Me? For what?"

"Saving me," he replied softly.

Robin's brow furrowed in confusion. "I think you have things backwards. You saved me, Patrick. I'm alive today because of you."

Patrick dropped his eyes to his hands. "When I was standing outside that building, Pete came to see me. I told him that I swore I would never let myself love a woman so much it would destroy me, like losing my mother destroyed my father. I said that I thought my father was a coward because he just gave up." He slowly raised his eyes and met her gaze. "But as I was standing there wondering if I would ever see you again, I knew that the same thing would happen to me if I lost you because you're everything to me, Robin. I told him how you changed my life, how for the first time in my life I was able to really be me. And I realized that you saved me."

Patrick shook his head and ran a hand across his mouth, as tears filled his eyes. "If I had never met you, I would have spent the rest of my life hiding from love, masquerading as a shallow ladies' man. I would have continued to sleepwalk through life. I never would have known what it was like to love a woman so much you would die for her." Patrick's voice cracked on the last word and Robin could feel the tears begin to sting her eyes. Patrick swallowed, took a deep breath and then went on. "I never would have known what it was like to wake up next to the most beautiful woman in the world and fall asleep holding the woman I want to spent the rest of my life with. I never would have known what my parents had, what my mother gave my father. You gave me those gifts, Robin, and I will always be grateful."

The tears were now cascading down Robin's face, but she paid them no attention. She simply leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his.

They slowly parted and Patrick smiled slightly, as he ran his thumb across her lower lip. "You say I hate that word 'forever'. But as I've learned over the last few days, when it comes to you forever isn't nearly long enough."

Robin laughed lightly. "You really have changed."

Patrick took her hands in his and met her eyes. "We've been given a second chance. Things could have turned out so differently. You could have died. I could have tested positive. But none of those things happened and we're here together. We don't know what the future holds. I think we've learned that everything can change in the blink of an eye, that things happen that we have no control over. All we can do is enjoy every moment we have together."

Robin nodded, as Patrick sat back on the couch and put his arm around her shoulders. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and then she rested her head against his chest.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a few long moments, until Patrick broke it. His voice emerged in a whisper, "Before my mother went into surgery, she said that when you're forced to confront your own mortality, you realize that only one thing really matters - whether you've given love completely and been loved unconditionally." Patrick paused and brought his thumb and forefinger to Robin's chin and lifted her head. Her eyes met his gaze. "I've faced my own mortality and the only reason I know what really matters is because of you, Robin."

A sweet smile crossed Robin's lips. "I love it when we agree on something. You did the same for me."

She then placed a soft kiss on his lips and rested her head back down on his chest. She heard the beat of his heart thumping in her ears and she was sure that the rhythm of her own heart matched his.

**-------------------------------------------THE END----------------------------------------------**

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought. -Steph


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